THE younger generation of Aussies took centre stage at yesterday's Remembrance Day service in Warwick, with local schoolchildren symbolising the freedom bought for them by Diggers from bygone conflicts.

Pupils from Warwick West and Freestone State Schools recited poems and pledges and helped to lay wreaths in the bright spring sunshine, with a cooling breeze helping somewhat with the late morning heat in Leslie Park.

Baptist Church Pastor Geoff Baills delivered the opening prayer, with Korean War veteran Ray "Curly" Parker recounting the involvement of Australian troops on the Korean Peninsula in the early 1950s, where 346 of our troops paid the ultimate sacrifice, with 1200 injured in action and 44 taken prisoners of war.

Mr Parker recalled the "hot, wet summers and damned cold winters" the Australian contingents endured in Korea, along with the heavy fighting in engagements such as the ultimately unsuccessful defence of the icy slopes of "Hill 355" or "Little Gibraltar", by soldiers of the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment in December 1952.

After the Warwick West SS captains recited the poem "In Flanders Fields", the Ode was recited by Warwick RSL Sub-Branch president Ann Moufarrege and the Last Post sounded by bugler Brendan Babington.

The chimes of the Town Hall clock were then spot on as silence descended in the park at the eleventh hour, with wreath-laying followed by the pupils of Freestone State School and their recitation of another poem, "Pledge of Remembrance.

Steven Hall gave a stirring rendition - without musical accompaniment - of Advance Australia Fair to round of the service, with the Southern Downs Regional Council parks and gardens staff received high praise for the stunning floral display surrounding the Cenotaph.

In a week where more Diggers lost in Afghanistan were laid to rest, World War Two veterans Stoddart Diggles and David Watt said they appreciated the role played by the schoolchildren in yesterday's service.

"The young people these days seem to be more aware, both of Remembrance Day and Anzac Day," Mr Diggles said.

"For us that is a wonderful thing to see on a day like today."